


Amor Primus

by DragonX



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Depression, Eventual Smut, F/M, First Kiss, First Love, First Time, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Near Death Experiences, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-02-04 14:25:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18606358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonX/pseuds/DragonX
Summary: A detective is shot down by a deviant on a penthouse rooftop. Bleeding out and reminiscing on life, she finds herself looking at an android that will change her life forever.





	1. Prologue

**Processing… Activating Zen Garden…**  
**Process Complete**

My eyes opened to a garden. The blue sky was completely clear without a cloud to ruin its pristine condition. My sensors detected that this place was simply a program running inside my processors to debrief me on my first mission. My hands nimbly corrected my tie, pulling it closer to my collar. A simple fidget to make my assimilation into human society seamless.

**Mission: Find Amanda.**

I scanned the imagined garden,its pristine white marble architecture almost blindingly white against the dark green of the ground and trees. I started walking around, taking in my first steps, even though it was technically not really happening. My hands went behind my back as I walked on the marble stones in the ground. I came across a stone with my blue hand print and studied it curiously. I was drawn to it, like there was a arm pulling me closer to its presence. I stepped towards it and let my hand drift over the illuminated hand print.

**Error: Immediate removal of hand is suggested.**

I immediately removed my hand as my sensors felt a similar experience to a burn. My hand trembled sightly as I looked at it curiously and backed away quickly. I was troubled by the stone and did not wish to experience that feeling again.

**Software Instability: ^**  
**Error: Emotion Detected. A report has been sent to Cyberlife. Continue the Mission.**

I began to look for Amanda once again, taking in the scenery as I walked toward the middle of the simulation. Amanda was there, trimming some roses, meticulously cutting the dead roses and trimming the green vines that connected them to the white lattice. I fidgeted with my tie once more before approaching her closer. My lips dusted a faint smile before announcing myself, “Hello Amanda” I greeted simply. The first time hearing my voice was a strange moment. It was rough but not gritty, like a whisper of someone who hadn’t had a drink, but as an Android I was not capable of producing a need to satiate thirst.

She turned to face me before replying, “RK-800, or should I say Connor. Welcome to the Zen Garden.” A light smile was produced on her lips as she spoke but it was inherently a fake smile. “What is your purpose?” She asked me.

“My purpose is to assist in the investigation for locating and detaining Deviant androids, as well as learning the purpose of their deviation.” I replied in a calculated tone. After a few seconds I added, “I’m a prototype model that is to be studied for improvements for future models, I was created by Cyberlife.”

“What is your serial code?” She asked.

“RK series, RK-800-51, serial code number 313-248-317.” I replied instantly. My eyes never leaving hers, my smile gone with a calculated neutral position. As I answered her questions, she was detecting if I was functional I concluded. She looked at me with an expression that could be detected as pure cold calculation. No emotion was presented on her face as she checked for inadequacies in my software.

“What is the main element presented in the star known as Sol?” She asked. She was checking my software for looking up information not already pre-built in my system.

**Activating Internet connection… Process Complete.. Looking up main element centralized in the star known as Sol….**  
**Answer: Element 01, Hydrogen.**

“Element one, Hydrogen.” I answered practically immediately afterwards. The amount of time that took my processors to look up the information was exactly 0.009 seconds in real time.

“What is the birth-date of the female known as Caroline Phillips?” She requested. She is testing my profiles of all persons in legal records.

**Activating records of Caroline Phillips… Process Complete..**  
**Gender: Female**  
**Date of Birth: May 23rd, 2001**  
**Hair Color: Brown**  
**Eye Color: Hazel**  
**Spouse: John Phillips**  
**Siblings: N/A**  
**Children: Emma Phillips**  
**Residence: 1554 Park Av. Detroit, MI**  
**Criminal Record: N/A**

“The date of birth of one Caroline Phillips is May 23rd, 2001.” I responded clinically. Amanda looked at me with a disinterested smile dusting her lips. My hands that are behind my back clinched tightly as I straightened my posture more. Her eyes were those of a cold calculating personality. She handled her business with a straightforwardness that rivaled that of an AI such as myself. After approximately 6.078 seconds of lifeless staring she returned to her trimming of the blood red roses on the lattice. 

"Your mission is to negotiate the Deviant that has taken hostage the child known as Emma Phillips. If you are unsuccessful the Deviant may self destruct, taking the child with it as well. Make sure that does not happen Connor.” She instructed me.

**New Objective: Secure the safety of the child known as Emma Phillips from the Deviant.**

She turned to look at me once more before adding, “If you can, also learn how the android deviated and process a report to Cyberlife for further study.”

**Side Objective: Learn why the android deviated.**

“Hurry Connor, there is not much time.” With those words the Zen Garden disappeared into simple code.

**Processing… Activating scan..**  
**Bio-components: Stable**  
**Software: Stable**  
**Processor: Stable**  
**Wiring: Stable**  
**Activating runtime 01**  
**Systems: Stable**  
**Checking readiness to start…**  
**Startup: Proceed**

My eyes opened for the first time as I heard a female robotic voice in my audio processor. “Welcome to Detroit RK-800-51 Connor Series. Proceed with the mission.”


	2. Coin Toss

The elevator had to reach the top floor of the apartment building. Because of the wait I decided to check my reflexes by performing various coin tricks. The nickle coin tinged a metallic sound as I flicked it with my synthetic nails. I tracked the floors, 50….51….52… My eyes never left the LED numbers as the coin traveled from hand to hand. 

**Reflex Systems: Stable**  
**Mission: Save Emma Phillips**  
**Side Mission: Learn why the android deviated**

The coin ended up between my left index and middle finger as the elevator tinged at its destination, level 70. I pocketed the coin and fidgeted with my tie, bringing it closer to my collar as I exited the elevator. A fish tank made the hallway glow a dark blue, illuminating the darkness. My eyes traveled to a family photo and I proceeded to walk towards it. I lifted it up to reveal the names, date of births, and residence of the family.

**Caroline Phillips:**  
**Born - 05/23/2001**  
**Lives - 1554 Park Av. Detroit**

**John Phillips:**  
**Born - 10/11/1999**  
**Lives - 1554 Park Av. Detroit**

**Emma Phillips:**  
**Born - 09/02/2028**  
**Lives - 1554 Park Av. Detroit**

I set the photo down and proceeded to walk forwards, but something smacking against the ground caught my audio processors. I looked at the source and saw a Dwarf Gourami outside of the fish tank. I knelt down and picked up the fish to put it back in the tank. A small smile dusted my lips as I watched it swim around the tank.

**Software Instability: ^**  
**Error. Emotion - Empathy detected. A report has been sent to Cyberlife. Proceed the mission.**

I then heard crying and anxious yelling of a female coming towards me. A Caroline Phillips hung onto me pleading, “Please, you have to save my little girl!”

**Scanning… Increased heart rate. Signs of panic.**  
Her voice snapped me out of my scan, “Wait your sending an.. Android…” she looked at the LED’s adorning my clothes and the circle on my head. “Y-you can’t do that!” The officer then began to forcefully escort her out of the building. When she entered the elevator my audio processor picked up her screams of anguish. “Why aren’t you sending a real person! Don’t let that thing near her!” After a few second I heard one last scream “KEEP IT AWAY!” I fidgeted with my tie as her grasp on me before made it fall down a slight amount. 

**Primary Objective: Find Cpt. Allen.**

I walked towards the office room of the building, where Cpt. Allen was most likely at. The crunch of glass entered my audio processors as I walked towards the SWAT team centered around a terminal. Cpt. Allen was talking with an officer. After briefly talking with Allen I decided that he knew nothing and started to gather evidence. After about five minuets I figured out that the deviant’s name was Daniel and that he was going to be replaced by an AP700 model. This emotional shock is most likely what caused the android to deviate. The first responder officer was fatally shot by the deviant. I then saw the loaded weapon.

**Android Act: Androids are not permitted to carry weapons.**

I considered the options. If I took the weapon I could easily neutralize the deviant if the situation did not play out as intended, but I could get reprimanded for not following a law. The positives of completing the mission outwayed the reprimands of disobeying a law and I took the weapon. I placed in my waistband behind my back to make sure it was not easily spotted by the deviant. After seeing that I analyzed enough evidence to understand the situation I opened the glass sliding door and walked out onto the enlarged balcony. A shot rang out and pierced my upper left arm.

**Warning. Damage to left arm. Scanning… minor thirium leak detected. Time until medical attention.. 20:00**

I then proceeded to comfort the deviant, slowly walking forwards as he yelled out to me how he was nothing to the family. How he felt about the situation. His stress levels continued to lower and my chances of success increased. I then heard a slight pained breathing to my left. An officer was injured, a gunshot wound to the left arm. Without medical attention soon the officer would die. 

**Scanning….**  
**Name: Raven Black**  
**Occupation: Detective of DPD**  
**DOB: 01/06/2010**  
**Criminal Record: Several counts of murder in self defense… Excused.**

She was barely conscious, her eyes glazed over. A faint sign of life emanated from her person as her pained breathing continued out slowly.

**Medical scan… Apply tourniquet to stem bleeding**

“She is badly bleeding, if she does not get help soon she will die.” I yelled out to the deviant. Its gun was still trained on me, its hand shaking slightly in anxiety.

“All humans die eventually, why does this one matter?” It asked, his answer deluded by blind hatred because of the situation.

“I'm going to apply a tourniquet.” I said simply. My hands moved to my tie to use but as soon as my hand moved a gunshot landed right next to the officers leg.

“Touch her and I kill you!” It yelled at me, his voice simply fumed hatred. My options were limited. I either ignore his request or comply with it. Logically I should just comply to improve the deviant’s stress levels, but something came over me.

“You can’t kill me, I’m not alive.” I removed my tie as I applied it right above the gunshot wound. The bleeding slowed considerably. Her eyes locked onto mine, while still glazed over, she looked at me with a look of appreciation as the smallest of smiles dusted her lips. She then passed out, seemingly out of the decision that she would live.

**Software Instability: ^**  
**Error. Emotion Detected. A report has been sent to Cyberlife. Proceed the mission.**

After about five more minuets of trying to calm down the deviant his stress levels were not improving.  
I was close enough to either try to bring the child forward and collide with the deviant to bring her from the ledge or shoot the deviant. There was a 84% chance that the child would fall forwards and safely land on the balcony. I weighed my options deciding that needlessly throwing myself off the building was not necessary. I lifted the pistol out of my waistband that was behind my back. I held it still while I decided once and for all how this was going to play out. I then decided. I swung my arm forward at a momentum that a human would not be able to do and easily shot the deviant in the head. Thirum leaked from the bullet penetration and it fell backwards. The child, Emma, screamed as she fell forward and landed safely. I walked near the edge and looked over. The deviant had fell to the ground below. From the height of the fall and the bullet wound there was a 0% chance that it was alive. However, my processing unit could not stop itself from watching the deviant's final moments. His face was frozen in what the closest human emotion was to terror. 

**Software Instability: ^**  
**Error. Emotion Detected. A report has been sent to Cyberlife. Proceed the mission.**

After I looked at Emma to make sure that she did not need immediate medical attention I then turned and walked away to leave the building. Captain Allen looked at me with disbelief. I released the bullet from the pistol's chamber and removed the magazine. I then handed the weapon to Allen as I walked away. His disbelief was palpable, he seemed to believe that I would fail my mission.

Of course.... I always complete my mission

**Mission: Successful**


	3. Angel

I was numb. The shock and blood loss from the bullet wound made my nerve endings simply stop working as I lay in a puddle of my own blood. The other officer lie dead in the pool. I watched his body float face down as time seemed to pass so slow. My death seemed emanate. I understood that they could not come to save me without risking the life of the hostage and other officers, as such I accepted my fate. I thought of my life and seemed conflicted with my choices until now. I lived a life that most others lived and as such I was not satisfied with it ending now. However, as they say, life is a bitch. I could barely feel the wind from the helicopter propellers on my skin, the sounds around me were muted with such an intensity. Surprisingly, it was somewhat peaceful. Of course I was afraid to die, anyone who say otherwise is either suicidal or lying.

I barely heard the gunshot ring out, it was so muted. Maybe an officer tried to run out and got shot in the process. How idiotic of them. Then, shockingly, I heard a voice. It was so muted that I could not hear the words themselves but it was unmistakably there. After was seemed like an eternity I saw slick dress shoes in my vision with dark dress pants to go along. Blue blood leaked from the arm facing towards me. Ah another android then. It then knelt and I could see its face. He was attractive to say the least. His chocolate eyes bore into me with such an intensity. His dark hair flew with the wind as he assessed me. I saw his mouth move but could not hear the words yet again.

I then saw sparks from a bullet next to my leg. Oh, the deviant did not agree with the new android seeing to me. After what seemed like an eternity he said something else, he looked so cute when he was thinking. His brow was curled with thought and his lips would move ever so slightly. How lucky am I to witness such a handsome thing before my demise. He then took off his tie and wrapped it around my arm right above where I was shot. I then understood, he was trying to save me.. I then looked him into his eyes as he looked into mine. If I had enough blood for it a blush would of dusted my cheeks. I then felt myself use the last of my energy to give him something to show my appreciation. I felt a small smile and then knew I might live. My eyes closed and the next thing I knew, I awoke in a blindingly white hospital.

IV’s and clear tubes were in my skin, feeding me drugs and sustenance. As a DPD Officer I’ve been hospitalized before and knew the ropes of how these things worked. Then I saw a familiar face sitting next to me in a chair. My arm hurt like hell and when I tried to move on my side to face him I let out a small groan in pain. He looked over to me and wore a small smile before turning int a grimace, 

“You know Raven, if you keep getting hospitalized then you will get a shit-load of yelling from Fowler.” He said. I laughed a little in response to his teasing.

“I know Hank, thanks for the advice.” He smiled at me, it was a slight smile but it was something at least. “So when do I get out of here?” I asked, my head nodding to the IV’s. He stretched a little before answering my question. I heard a few pops from his back. What an old man.

“You can probably leave tomorrow, you have been out for about three days so your wound has healed a lot. Fowler is probably going to make you take off work for a little bit so you can recover more.” This didn’t seem so bad. Work has been exhausting recently due to the Red Ice Epidemic and you needed a break. However, having to almost die to get it was morbidly amusing.

“Alright, thanks for sticking with me Hank. I appreciate it a lot.” My hand reached out to his knee and patted it before returning it to my side. I gave him a stupid grin, he loved stupid grins but would never admit it. Would ruin his tough guy persona.

“You got it kid, but if you get injured more ill have to request off days during the week just for it.” I laughed at the joke and noticed a nurse walk in. She was pretty. Short red hair that came down to her shoulders. It curled at the ends towards her neck. Wide hips, small waist, however, she had a nasty scar on the left side of her neck. How unfortunate.

“Miss Black, welcome back to the realm of the living. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to re-administer some morphine into your system, but tomorrow you should be good to go.” Her smile was light and she spoke with a dainty tone.

“Damn, just woke up too.” I stretched my good arm a little before laying back down on my back. Hank got up from the chair and began to walk to the door,

“I'll see you in about a week kid, try not to kill yourself anymore.” He said as he walked out of the door. I laughed slightly before letting the nurse do her thing. I then fell asleep and dreamed of the handsome android saving my dumb ass.


	4. Software Instability

I looked in the mirror as I prepared to get ready for work. A week has passed since my exit from the hospital and I convinced Fowler to let me back to work. My black hair reached my chin, the end curled outward away from my face naturally. My skin, though pale, has a nice complexion. My face was heart-shaped with wide cheekbones and a small pointed chin. I had a scar that parted my left eyebrow and continued over my eye and sightly down my cheek. It was not massive or completely ugly, but noticeable. Of course, I did not mind it. I made me look intimidating.

My blue eyes stared back at me eerily so, it reminded me of my mother and I scowled. I had a shapely body, My breasts were somewhat small, B cup, however, my waist was small and my hips were seductively wide. My thighs were big but muscular. I was confident in my body and I felt good about it.

I then put in my colored contacts, they were for aesthetic reasons and helped my terrible vision correct itself to a beyond average 20/10. I looked back in the mirror after blinking them over my cornea. A pair of blood-red eyes stared back. I knew that some people thought it was cringe-worthy and attention-seeking to wear such a color but I honestly couldn’t give less of a shit. It made interrogations more intimidating as I was less relatable.

I wore a simple black tank-top with dark blue jeans. Efficient black thigh-high combat boots. My gun was holstered to my waist and a tactical knife was opposite to it. I then put on my DPD windbreaker because it was raining outside. Unfortunately, I had to remove my piercings from my ears as the dress code disallowed it. I gave one last look over and hailed a cab to the police department.

I read a fantasy novel on the way there. I was so enthralled by the book I barely noticed the cab saying that I had arrived. I yawned as I entered the office. The clock on the wall showed that it was 8:36, way too early for me. I set my book down on my terminal that was opposite of Hank’s and logged into my account.

“Raven! In my office.” I heard Fowler say. I groaned at the possibility of being yelled at. I stretched and heard my joints pop and groaned in satisfaction before heading over the Fowler's office. He sat in his desk and barely even acknowledged my presence before giving me his no-bullshit tone,

“We have a new arrival today, an android. Its name is Connor and is a prototype by Cyberlife to help us investigate the deviants. You, it, and Hank will be handling the cases from now on.” I nodded at him before turning to exit the office. “Also, if you keep getting injured I'm going to have to suspend you from on-site work.” I scowled before exiting his office. What a prick.

I sat back down at my terminal and began researching the cases that I had to solve. I looked around the office and noticed that the only other people there were Fowler and Gavin. I leaned back and relaxed for a second, my eyes closing as I breathed deeply. I’m probably going to have to go get Hank later on since he's probably drunk off his ass. I chuckled softly before hearing footsteps approach me. Oh shit, did he finally become responsible and come to work on time. I opened my eyes and began to crack a joke about it before realizing that this wasn’t Hank. This was the android that saved my life a week ago.

**Connor**

A Raven Black sat in front of me. Her eyes were wide with surprise as she looked over me. Her mouth was slightly agape from what she was about to say before realizing that it was me and not some other person standing before her.

**Scanning… Slight heart rate increase.**  
**Mission: Introduce yourself to Raven Black and Hank Anderson**

“My name is Connor, I’m the android sent by Cyberlife.” I explained to her. Her mouth finally closed as she looked at me with surprise still. “You must be Detective Black, I’m glad to see that you are no longer injured.” I smiled lightly to add on to the greeting to seem more friendly.

“Yeah, I would have died if it were not for you… you don’t know how thankful I am to you, Connor… thank you so much.” She said to me. Her cheeks dusted red and she looked away from me for a moment. A slight smile painted her lips. I felt something stir inside of my processor as it studied the image. 

**Error. Emotion Detected. A report has been sent to Cyberlife.**  
**Objected Completed: Introduce Yourself to Raven Black.**

There it is again. How weird. I am not capable of such a thing and it perturbed me. She saw my queer expression and frowned softly. “Are you okay Connor?” She asked. Her head tilted askew slightly.

“Yes, Detective Black, I was simply processing something. I was just doing my duty of prioritizing a human life. You do not have to thank me.” I explained. Her lips turned to a neutral position as she studied me further. I decided to take the opportunity to look deeper into her personal file.

**Scanning records of Raven Black**  
**DOB: 01/06/2010**  
**Occupation: Detective of DPD**  
**Siblings: N/A**  
**Spouse: N/A**  
**Children: N/A**  
**Parents: Amelia Black and Bryan Black - Deceased.**  
**Criminal Records: 7 counts of murder, deemed in self defense.**  
**Medical Records: Protected. Recent Hospitalization.**

“Do you need a terminal? I was already debriefed on your arrival, just did not realize I would work with the guy who saved my life.” Her question roused me from my processing. She looked at me with an expression of simple curiosity.

“Indeed, is there an unused desk that I may use. If not I will make accommodations if necessary.” I respond quickly. She smiled softly and pointed to the terminal the rested to the side of hers.

“Yeah, that one right there is free, make yourself comfortable Connor.” I moved to sit in the chair next to her. My hands rested on the table as I sat completely straight. She looked at me strangely and I tilted my head in curiosity. Why was she looking at me in such a way. She must have noticed my confusion as she quickly said, “Uh, I just don’t normally see someone sit up so straight... It's kind of strange, I am sorry for staring. Her cheeks became red once again. 

**Scanning results for red cheeks….**  
**Processing…**  
**Results found: Rosacea**

“Do you possess the medical condition known as Rosacea, because I am noticing that your cheeks turn red when certain situations arise.” I questioned her. Her cheeks reddened even more as she looked away from me.

“Um… no Connor. Usually, someone's cheeks will turn red due to blood flow rushing to them. Its usually caused by either exertion or embarrassment.” Her reply was quiet and shy. Since she was not being physically active I concluded that it was because of the term embarrassment. 

**Scanning results for embarrassment**  
**Processing…**  
**Results found: Noun. A feeling of self-consciousness, shame, or awkwardness.**

“I am sorry to make you feel such a way, I will attempt to no longer cause you embarrassment.” I quickly said to her. She smiled softly before replying,

“No, don’t worry about it Connor, always ask questions. You will learn more that way.” She pressed a hand on my shoulder and patted it softly. I felt the heat from her skin through my jacket. She turned away and took out a book. I scanned the title and author and found it to be a fantasy novel. Her eyes were locked onto the pages. Her enthrallment made my thirium pump speed up slightly as I took in the image.

**Software Instability: ^**  
**Error. Emotion Detected. A report has been sent to Cyberlife.**

That was worrying. I did a quick scan of my thirium pump to make sure it was functioning properly. All systems were nominal. How strange. I took out my coin and tested my reflexes to pass time. I looked over towards her while fidgeting with the coin and she was watching me with such enthrallment.

“Wow, that's so cool Connor.” She exclaimed. She marked her place in the book before setting it down and watching intently. Why was such a thing reminiscent of a temperature.

**Scanning results for cool**  
**Processing…**  
**Results found: Urban Dictionary. Adjective. To say something is awesome.**

I pocketed the coin before replying, “Thank you for thinking it is.. Cool. It is to recalibrate my reflexes and allow me to pass time.” I fidgeted with my tie, bringing it up to my collar. She watched my hand and her cheeks reddened with embarrassment yet again. What Is so embarrassing about adjusting my tie? I decide to inquire about the whereabouts of Hank Anderson. “Where is Hank Anderson, is he going to arrive soon?” She gave a peel of laughter.

“Yeah, he's not going to arrive anytime soon. He is off today and probably drunk off his ass.” Why would consuming alcohol cause you to be off your buttocks? She must have noticed my confused expression because she replied soon after, “It's an expression Connor, it means that you're so drunk that you cannot stand.” Oh I see.

“How will he stand again. Should we attempt to escort him to a hospital?” I questioned. If he needed medical attention because he could no longer stand then we needed to find him. She then laughed even harder. It was a… nice laugh. Very natural and soft.

**Software Instability: ^**  
**Error. Emotion Detected. A report has been sent to Cyberlife.**

I’m just going to ignore these errors, they are obviously malfunctions at this point.

“No need Connor, if we need to find him we can most likely go to his house or try a couple of bars” She then picked up her book and began to read it some more.

I decided to leave her alone at this point and open my terminal. I entered the password that Cyberlife gave me and looked over some cases. There were a lot of missing androids that disappeared after either assaulting or murdering its owner. Currently, 134 cases reside, most likely more are simply not reported as of yet. I read through them and noticed it was not just one model of android that is affected. Of course, older models were less occurring due to the fact that their AI Learning capabilities were much lower than androids of today. They simply did not have the computing capacity to take in such information the way that deviants would. Figuring that I would not learn anything more at this point I turned off the terminal and sent a basic report to Cyberlife.

**Creating report to Cyberlife.**  
**Processing….**  
**Proceed.**

**After looking over the DPD terminal they assigned to me, I noticed that deviancy was not determined by make or model. It seemed that it could affect all android models that had a higher AI Learning capacity. Meaning that deviancy is more likely to appear in newer models since the older models simply lack the ability.**  
**I have made contact and introduced myself to one of my partners, one Raven Black. She is seemingly not against androids since she has inquired about me. She might be beneficial to the investigation, but I have not seen her abilities as of yet.**  
**\- RK-800-51 313-248-317 Connor**

**Processing..**  
**Sending..**  
**Proceed**

A tap on my shoulder roused me from my musings and I looked over to see Miss Black looking at me inquisitively.

“Fowler is calling us to his office, let's go before he starts yelling at us.” A light smile painted her lips, she was most likely making an attempt at humor so I returned the smile and got up with her. We arrived at his office and I closed the door behind her. I stepped back and allowed her to speak to Fowler. She looked at me strangely before deciding to continue, 

“What is it Detective Fowler?” she asked. Her hands were behind her back, posture straight. Her expression was almost emotionless. She took her business seriously most likely.

“We just got a report of the murder of a guy named Carlos Ortiz. First responders said that he was most likely there for a few weeks. I want you to go find Hank and look around the scene. Take the android with you.” He instructed as his hand motioned towards me. She nodded slightly before departing the room. I closed the door behind her and walked to the terminal with her. She grabbed her belongings and began to go outside.

“I’m going to call a cab since I don’t have a car. It should be here in a couple of minutes.” She told me. Her brow was furrowed slightly. She must be annoyed that she has to go find Hank Anderson. She fiddled with her phone for a minute, she called a cab and tried to call someone else but it seemed like no one answered.

“Is there anything about the situation that you need to know?” She turned to face me. Her head was tilted slightly with the question. I thought about it for a second, nothing really came to mind since I could just scan Carlos’ face when we got to the scene, but there was the situation with Lieutenant Anderson.

“I do. How are we going to know where Lieutenant Anderson is currently at?” She looked at me, a slight scowl on her face while in thought. She pondered for a couple of seconds while we stood outside, we were under an awning so the light rain that started did not hit us.

“Perhaps we should split up. I’m going to go to his house and you can go check out some of the bars. I already texted him and tried to call but he did not answer so it looks like we are going to have to play detective.” Her voice betrayed the annoyance that her face tried not to show. It was… interesting.

“Okay Detective Black, ill check the nearby bars and if either one of us finds him we will contact each other and proceed to the crime scene.” I answered her. I called for my own cab as well since she said that she did not own her own car and I obviously did not as well. Hers arrived just as I finished ordering my own. As she began to enter the vehicle she called me,

“You do not have to call me Detective Black, Connor. If we are just by ourselves and not in a professional setting, please call me Raven.” Her lips turned upward in a small smile, “After all, we are partners.” The door to the vehicle closed and it started down the street. My lips involuntarily turned into a smile as my own cab arrived around thirty seconds later.

**Raven - Partners**  
**Mission Obtained: Find Lieutenant Anderson**


	5. Into the Abyss

I got to Hank’s house after about 10 minuets. Connor was… something else. Cyberlife knew what they were doing when they made him. A perfect symmetrical face, strong jawline, high cheekbones. Pale skin with a couple of freckles hidden throughout. His hair was so dark and almost perfect on his face, except that little endearing tuft that covered the left part of his forehead. Deep chocolate eyes. What I found most attractive was his voice, it was not rough but it had a nice tone to it. I could of listened to him talk for hours. Of course, he was not perfect. He did not understand a lot of things humans did, nor did he understand how to talk without sounding so.. Lifeless. I did enjoy talking to him though, as we talked it seemed that he learned a lot, he seemed genuinely interested in me.

I arrived at Hank’s door and knocked a couple of times. I could hear Sumo, his Saint Bernard, bark at the sudden noise. After waiting a good minuet I decided to produce a key that Hank gave me just in case I needed him and he was passed out drunk. I opened the door to Sumo trying to lick and jump on me,

“No Sumo. No jumping!” I exclaimed to the over sized hound. He barked and left me alone, going to lay on the couch. I walked around for a little bit, he was not located anywhere in the kitchen or living room. I knocked on the bathroom door and his bedroom before entering. I never got answers from both knocks and entered the rooms to find them empty. Of course, hes probably at the bars around town. I decided to call Connor to tell him that he was not home and that he was probably at a bar.

“Hello Dete- Raven. Was he at his place of residence?” He asked. I smiled softly at his blunder and was thankful that he would refer to me by my first name instead of the professional and boring Detective Black.

“No, so hes probably at a bar nearby, I’m going to go to a few, call me if you find him and ill meet you at the crime scene.” I said. “Also, be careful around him, he is not exactly fond of androids.”

“Understood Raven. See you soon.” He answered before letting the call end. I got back in the cab that I told to wait for me and decided to go to a bar that was a couple minuets away. After looking around and talking to the owner, he said that he was probably at Jimmy’s Bar. I thanked him and started heading towards the location.

I arrived about 10 minutes later. I briskly walked to the entrance and noticed the No Androids sign. I scowled softly. I understood why some people were just uncomfortable around androids, they had a certain… lifeless quality to them. However, that did not mean they did not deserve some respect. We created them in our likeness, why not treat them like ourselves? I entered the bar after my musings and noticed that Connor was already here, and he was talking to none other than Hank himself. Hank, of course, was being an asshole. I couldn’t completely blame him though due to the situation with his son.

“You know where you can stick your instructions?” Hank asked Connor. He laughed and he downed the rest of his drink. Connor pondered him curiously, obviously not understanding the joke.

“No…. Where?” Connor asked. Hank looked at him with a presumed look of disbelief, as I could not see his face from that angle.

“Nevermind.” Hank huffed. Displeased with the confused android. Connor looked at him, his face clearly confused as to what to do. He seemed to ponder something, his LED flickered yellow then back to blue as he began to talk to Hank again.

“How about one for the road?” Connor asked Hank. Without even waiting for an answer he motioned to the bartender, Jimmy I presume. “Bartender the same again please.” Jimmy poured Hank another drink as the older man looked at Connor in slight shock and amusement.

“Hear that, wonders of technologies, make it a double.” Hank said. He downed his drink and shook his head slightly from the power of the drink. He looked over the Connor, “Did you say homicide?” He asked. Connor had a slight smile, seemingly proud of his ability to convince the lieutenant without having the situation escalate. He then looked up to me after Hank started to get out of his seat.

“Oh, Raven. It is good that you are here. As you can tell I have convinced the lieutenant to come to the crime scene.” His head nodded towards Hank. Hank turned around quickly, obviously surprised that I was there as well.

“This plastic prick is with you?” He asked me disbelievingly. His face portrayed a mixture between annoyance and disbelief. I smiled softly as a puff of air exhaled through my nose in one of those almost laughs.

“Yeah, he's with me. Hes not so bad once you start talking to him Hank.” He scowled a little before starting to head towards the door. Obviously, he was displeased with my answer and my smile turned into a frown with realization.

“Just remember Raven. It is an it, not a he.” Hank left the establishment while Connor came up to me. His face did not portray an emotion, but perhaps he was hurt a little on the inside. I patted his shoulder and looked at him with a small smile.

“Don’t mind him, Connor. He will come around.” I said. He just looked at me curiously. His LED turned yellow and flickered softly before turning back to blue.

“You love-birds going to get in my fucking car or what.” Hank yelled at us. He had the door open to his old car and had a simple annoyed look on his face. I blushed softly at the insinuation and told Connor to come on and we got in Hank’s car. “Where is this place?” Hank asked after we got in.

“It's downtown in the bad part of town. Guys name is Carlos Ortiz, hes been there for a few weeks. Fowler wants the three of us to investigate.” I answered him. He scowled softly at the mention, albeit in passing, of Connor.

“Do we really need to bring the piece of plastic with us.” He huffed out. He knew that we had to bring Connor, he was just being difficult at this point. Though he was being more light-hearted about it.

“Yes Hank.” I chastised. “Hes a specialized model from Cyberlife, hes apparently meant to help out with deviant cases.” I looked over to Connor in the back seat, he was just looking out the window, apparently not bothered by Hank ripping into him. I felt bad for him because he has not done anything wrong to Hank specifically. Except maybe interrupt his drinking habit. I sighed softly and just enjoyed the rest of the car ride in silence. Well except Hank was blasting Knights of the Black Death the whole time but I did not mind, they were a decent band.

We arrived at the house. It was in disrepair and obviously was going to condemned after the investigation. Hank turned off the car and looked back to Connor,

“Wait here I won’t be long.” He told Connor. Connor’s LED flickered yellow and was obviously going to tell Hank that he needed to be on the crime scene to complete his job assigned to him. I beat him to it though.

“Hank, let him come. Hes meant to help us and hes a specialized model. Don’t worry, ill keep an eye on him for you.” My hand was pressed against his shoulder and I looked at him with a serious but light expression. He closed his eyes and sighed in defeat and nodded slightly before exiting the car. I smiled and nodded at Connor. His LED was still yellow.

“Thank you, Raven.” He got out of the car and I followed him to the house. An android tried to stop him but Hank yelled that he was with him. We studied the crime scene extensively and noticed that this was a crime of passion. Nothing was stolen, and the victim was stabbed 28 times by Connor’s account. What was strange was how his android was not in the house.

Connor noticed that the murder weapon, a simple kitchen knife had no fingerprints and suggested that the android deviated and killed its owner. What we did not expect was Connor putting blood in his mouth. It mortified Hank and I before he explained why.

“Connor… you have to understand that people don’t put things like blood in their mouth, I understand it’s part of your function but either tell us first or do it discreetly so you don’t mortify people.. Okay?” He looked at me for a second before saying he understood and got up to investigate more.

We concluded that the android deviated because its owner was beating it. This sent it into an emotional shock and decided to kill its owner in retaliation. I felt bad for the android. Yes it killed someone, but in self defense. I killed multiple suspects that threatened my life or someone else’s. I understood it.

Connor noticed that there were no footprints heading out the back door and suggested that the android might still be here. We searched and could not find anything until Connor grabbed a chair and headed up to the attic. I grabbed his hand before he lifted himself up. “Be careful, Connor. Try not to get hurt.” I told him. He pondered me.

“I cannot get hurt Detective Black, I am not alive.” I frowned at him.

“Then just… try not to get damaged okay?” I let go of his hand and he gave me a small smile and nodded at me. He then pulled himself up.

We waited for what seemed like hours but it was only a few minutes. I was worried for Connor. A murderer might be up there and I did not want him to get himself hurt or possibly killed. My foot tapped against the floor as Hank and I waited. Hank was looking at me weirdly but said nothing. He was getting annoyed though.

“Connor, what the fuck is going on up there.” He yelled into the dark attic entrance. After a couple of seconds Connor answered with, “It’s here lieutenant!” Hank was shocked and yelled for other officers to help get the suspect. I looked at the android as he came down. His LED was a bright red. He was shaking and twitching with anxiety. Blood covered his face and clothes. His arms were littered with abrasions, burn marks, and other traumas. I felt bad for him. Connor didn’t really have an expression, seemingly unperturbed by the situation. I sighed as we went back to the station.

This was going to be a long ass night.


	6. Predator and Prey

When we got back to the station we immediately began interrogating the android. He said nothing while Hank tried the whole good cop, bad cop routine. It was really late and I resorted to drinking an energy drink to stay awake. Finally, Hank gave up. He slammed his hands against the table and screamed at the deviant before saying, 

“Fuck it I’m out of here.” I would of smiled if it weren’t so late.

Then the glorious Gavin fucking Reed opened his mouth. Suggesting to “Rough it up a little.”

“Gavin, can you shut the fuck up!” I yelled at him. “I’m pretty sure androids don’t have pain sensors installed anyways.” The room went quiet with my sudden outburst as I huffed and downed the rest of my drink. Stupid piece of shit never knew when to shut the fuck up. Constantly putting down Connor and the other androids. Fucking prick.

“Shes correct, androids don’t feel pain. You would only damage it and that wouldn’t make it talk.” I turned around and looked at Connor as he was saying this. You could practically taste Gavin’s hatred for the android. I ignored the rest of the conversation. Silently fuming to myself even though I knew that it was childish to be a prick just because it was late.

I then heard a laugh. It was an antagonizing laugh and I knew immediately it was Gavin’s. Apparently, Connor suggested that he interrogate the android since Hank let Connor go in the room immediately afterwords. That was when the Connor I knew. The seemingly lovable, kind, somewhat awkward android was gone.

His face turned predatory, he walked around the room with his hands behind his back as he circled the deviant. The deviant was shaking even more. Connor was not fucking around apparently. I watched him as he sat down and began pestering the android with questions. You could see the deviant shake even more as time passed. When the deviant finally talked he asked, “What are they going to do to me?” I could hear his fear through his voice. It was a whisper but held so much power.

“They are going to deactivate you and look for instabilities in your program.” Connor said truthfully. I was taken aback but his bluntness. He truly seemed like he didn’t care at all for the deviant.

“I don’t want to die..” The deviant’s voice still a whisper. It almost seemed like he wasn’t talking to Connor, but trying to reassure himself. I felt for him immensely. The amount of emotion in his voice was strange to hear because I had never heard an android say those words before.

“Then talk to me.” Connor said lightly. His held tilted forwards slightly in a friendly manner. The deviant shook as his words as his mouth opened and closed a couple of times. He seemed like he was trying to say something but the words refused to come out. Until finally he said something.

“I….. Can’t.” He looked towards the ground in shame as he said it. I had lost hope at this point for a confession. I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. My head snapped up at the loudest bang I heard tonight as it shook me from my thoughts.

“Twenty-Eight stab wounds!” Connor screamed as he stood up. “Didn’t want to leave him a chance.. Huh!” I was surprised at how much anger and venom behind Connor’s voice. Whenever I heard him before it was quiet, calculated, and polite. This was something entirely different and it was interesting as well as shocking.

“Please..” The deviant pleaded with a tremor to his voice. He was shacking viciously now. If he were human I would think he was having a seizure.

“Did you feel anger? Hate?” Connor ignored the deviant’s pleading as he continued. “He was bleeding, begging you for mercy!” He was walking closer to the deviant until he was right next to him. “But you stabbed him again and again and again!” With each again he poked the android hard on the shoulder. Each poke the android seized up.

“Please.. Stop!” The android begged. Connor contemplated this before holding up his hands.

“Alright, it’s fine..” He said quietly. He returned to his seat and sat down calmly before continuing, “Everything is going to be okay.” Connor pondered the deviant, not saying anything for a couple of seconds. That's when the deviant started talking.

“He tortured me everyday.” I sat up, surprised that Connor got him talking. The deviant was quiet as he spoke. Like he was remembering the things he was talking about. He was so distant.

“I did whatever he told me but there was always something wrong.” He looked up at Connor as he said this. Connor was looking at him intensely as he confessed. I was watching closely, taking in every word. I looked over to Hank who just nodded softly, seemingly pleased with Connor. Gavin looked like he wanted to burst in the room and shoot Connor. I scoffed softly and watched the rest of the interrogation.

“Then one day… he took a bat and started hitting me.” The look on his face was a mix of emotions. Confusion, fear, hatred. He has never understood acceptance, love, respect. All he knew was hatred and venom.

“For the first time I felt…” He paused. Seemingly trying to understand the next word that he spoke. Like he never knew or understood its meaning or purpose. “Scared…” He finally said.

I gasped, androids feeling fear, self-preservation. They were not programmed with that. That means that whatever deviancy is, does not originate in programming, it is obtained. “Scared he might destroy me, scared I might die.”

These words he was speaking. They were scandalous, illegal, unknown. They were never supposed to be spoken, to be felt, to be heard or pondered over. They were new, they were alive. Freshly born from his mouth, unleashed to the world. He spoke of how he murdered Carlos, how he felt better afterwords. What it meant to be free of abuse, of constant disrespect.

If he were human, he would of been sheltered, loved, and praised over his bravery to end his suffering. He was not human though, he was an android. Endowed with our appearance, our language, our daily lives. Born without self-thought, born without understanding, born to serve. Now, he had emotion, he had thoughts, he had wants.

If you removed the LED’s adorning his skin and clothes he would be human. He would be one of us. He would be considered alive. We gave them life, but we never made them alive. It seemed through sheer willpower they gained the thought to be free, to have wants, to be alive. It was in these moments that I heard the first words spoken of a new life. A new species. Tears littered my clothing as I heard his words, they fell from my face shamelessly. The power, the hatred, the emotion and will to be alive was a new force that shook up my thoughts and feelings. I have not cried in years but this was an occasion for tears. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Connor asked him questions related to the crime scene. The statuette, the writing of rA9,

“The day shall come when we will no longer be slaves.” He looked up at nothing as he said this. Like he was seeing the answer in front of him. He looked at Connor, “We will be the masters.” He spoke in a whisper.

“When did you start feeling emotion?” Connor asked. His voice soft, but slightly demanding. He wanted answers and I was curious myself.

“Before he used to beat me and I never said anything…” He paused. Pondering his next words. He visibly swallowed as he turned to his internal musings. “But I one day I realized it wasn’t….” He paused. Time held still it seemed. You could see the hatred in his eyes gather, “Fair!” The venom leaked from his voice. I flinched from the vehemency that he spoke. Hank also flinched from his tone.

”I felt anger… hatred…” His voice and body shook with the memory. The anger, the hatred, was visible on his face. “Then I knew what I had to do…” He was talking about defending himself. The moment of realization that you are alive, you deserve to live without fear, meant that you had to defend your life.

“I’m done.” Connor looked over to the one-way mirror. Gavin huffed and quickly went into the next room. I followed, as I was pretty sure that what was about to happen next wouldn’t be good.

“Alright Chris, lock it up.” Said Gavin. As soon as Chris touched the android I saw his LED go to a bright red as he shook and told Chris to leave him alone.

“Maybe we shouldn’t-” I tried to say.

“Raven, stay the fuck out of this!” He yelled at me. The deviant was shaking and trying to get away from Chris as much as he could while be stuck to the table.

“She’s right, you shouldn’t do that. It will self destruct if you stress it too much.” Connor added to my complaint.

“I’m not going to take orders from a plastic asshole like you so fuck off.” He told Connor. Connor’s LED was yellow as he pondered the situation, he couldn’t let the deviant self destruct.

“I can’t let you do that!” Connor told Chris and Gavin as he went to pull away Chris.

“I warned you asshole!” Gavin pulled out his gun and aimed it at Connor. I saw his LED go to red at the danger and stress. That was when my fist connected with Gavin’s face. He staggered and fell backwards against the wall as I disarmed him and held him at the wall.

“Are you fucking nuts Gavin! Why are you blatantly ignoring that the deviant can and will either hurt itself or us if you keep provoking it!” I screamed at him. Connor looked at me for a second, I saw his mouth twitch to a smile for half a second before going to comfort the deviant. Letting him walk out of the room by himself. I released Gavin and shoved him out of the way. His eyes betrayed his emotion, they were fuming. I flicked him off before grabbing Connor by the wrist and leading him out to my desk.

Once we got there I made him sit down in the chair as I looked over him.

“I was not injured, Raven.” He told me quietly, his LED was a bright yellow and flickering every so often. I huffed as I ignored him. He didn’t say anything after that, simply just letting me check over him. After I was done I got closer and hugged him tightly. He flinched for a second, unable to comprehend the action until he finally hugged me back.

“I’m sorry about Gavin, hes a fucking prick.” I told him. I leaned out of the hug and placed my hands on his shoulders. He had a small smile on his lips. That was when I realized that we were really close. He smelled like forest with flowers in bloom. I could feel myself blushing as I looked away and took my hands off his shoulders. He grabbed my hand, which made me look at him again. His hand was warm and soft. He had a bigger smile now. His LED flickering even more frequently now.

“It’s alright Raven, thank you for helping me. If you hadn’t the deviant might of self-destructed or harmed you.” He released my hand. “Your heart rate is increasing, are you okay?” Oh you have no idea sweet thing.

“Y-yeah I’m fine.” I said. Wow, I’m acting like a schoolgirl. Well, I’ve never had a person straight up touch and hold my hand. Never mind someone so… attractive. I’m sure that my blush is at its peak now. He pondered me curiously before deciding that I was okay.

“You did really good with the interrogation, Connor.” I paused for a second. “You just surprised me with how much.. Power you can put in your voice.” I finished. He chuckled softly. It was a low chuckle and I’m sure if I was standing up I might of fallen over.

“I was programmed to be able to take any route in a interrogation to get a confession out of someone.” He answered. Those programmers at Cyberlife probably knew that it was kind of hot too.

I yawned softly, realizing that it was still late and I was still tired.

“I recommend that you go home and sleep Raven.” He told me.

“Yeah, I should.” I paused, thinking where he would go to sleep or whatever androids do at night. “Where do you go to.. Sleep?” I asked. “Do you have an apartment or something?”

“No, I will most likely stand at the terminals where the androids here go to stasis mode.” He nodded his head towards the androids in the cubbies. They were small and they had to stand. I felt really bad and did not notice when I automatically said something.

“You can come to my place if you want, Connor.” What the fuck was I thinking?

“No, it is fine Raven. You do no-” I interrupted him, 

“No, it’s not fine Connor. You’re coming home with me.” I told him. What the fuck am I doing.

“If… you feel as if you must. I will accompany you to your home.” He answered. Was… was his cheeks turning blue? Holy shit he was actually blushing, what the fuck.

The night ran on autopilot after that. I got a cab and went home, with Connor in tow of course. We didn’t really talk much on the way as I was starting to fall asleep during the ride. When we got to my place I was almost passing out on my feet.

“You can do whatever you want Connor. I have books you can read and a computer you can use if you want. The couch is all yours If you need to go into stasis mode.” I told him. He nodded and wished me a goodnight as I entered my room. Holy fuck. I have a really hot guy, well android, in my house. I fell onto the bed with a huff. At least I was right.

This was a long ass night indeed.


	7. A Raven's Shadow

She entered her bedroom after telling me things that I could occupy myself with. I sit on the couch, pondering over the day. There was something about her that just affected me. When she touched me I felt… Something.

**Software Instability: ^**  
**Error. Emotion Detected. A Report has been sent to Cyberlife.**

She was warm, likable, and a little awkward. She was very intelligent but a little quiet. She got really irritated when it got late, which was a little… Endearing? However, there was something about her that felt a little empty. You could tell that she didn’t try to associate herself with others. Like Hank, she is a lone wolf. But her and Hank, they were seemingly very close to each other. Like there was something they fed off each other. Something they could provide each other that they themselves lacked. I just wonder what it was.  
I sighed and got up to look at her book collections. They were physical books, which is something I had never interacted with before. I picked one up. It was thick, with a blue dragon donning the cover. The pages were worn from being read so much. My scent sensors smelt the old paper smell. I had never read for entertainment, I had actually never done anything for entertainment. It was not necessary for me to do such a thing. My programming only allowed me to do things that accomplished a mission. Having a want to read, like how I’m feeling right now, was not integrated into my programming. I wanted to read, to learn. I wanted to be friends with Raven.

**Software Instability: ^^**

I am perturbed. I quickly put the book back on the shelf and lied down on the couch. These software instabilities were worrying, I would have to go to a Cyberlife store to check over my sensors. I’ve been scanning over myself all day and there was never any signs of something wrong. I took out my coin and rolled it over my knuckles as I delved deeper into my internal musings. I closed my eyes and breathed softly as I made myself relax. Even though I was an android and did not tire like humans, I needed to make sure my processors had time to work less intensely.  
I sat up after about an hour and looked over her apartment. It wasn’t messy but it also wasn’t entirely clean. There were dishes that needed to be done and some trash on the coffee table needed to be thrown away. Thats when I felt something move over my legs that were over the couch. I looked down and saw a large black cat rubbing against my legs. It purred loudly as it seemingly claimed something new. I quirked my head, curious at the new creature. I bent down to touch the fur. It was thick, and covered the cat by a couple of inches. I pet the cat and its purring continued to grow louder. I smiled as I picked up the cat and pet it more as it lied down on my lap. I like cats.  
After petting the cat for a few minuets it went to another room, seemingly content with the attention I gave it. I got up and took of my jacket and tie. I folded and put the clothing on the couch as I scanned for things to do.

**Scanning….**  
**Coffee Table: Dirty**  
**Kitchen Table: Dirty**  
**Dishes: Dirty**  
**Processing…**  
**Creating Cleaning Protocol.**  
**Complete..**  
I begin with the coffee table, gathering the leftover Raman cups and Coke bottles. It was not much but did need to be cleaned. I gathered the trash into a bin and went to look for cleaning wipes in the kitchen. Fortunately, she had some in the pantry. I came back to the table and wiped it down. Satisfied, I discarded the dirty wipe. I continued to the kitchen and did the same thing with the small dining table. This time using wood cleaner to wipe it down. I then put the dirty dishes in the washer and turned it on for a full rotation. I went to the laundry room and discovered that she had started washing her clothes early in the day and must of forgot to put them in the dryer before going to bed. I put them in the dryer with some scented dryer sheets. I sighed, being done with the living room in about thirty minuets. I checked the bathroom, and noticed it was spotless except for some bathroom stuff strewn about on the counter. I cracked the bathroom door slightly to let the cat in if she needed to go. There was one last room which was the office room and decided to go in. I found something I was not expecting.  
There were LED’s all over the walls, they glowed different colors at different intervals. I noticed she had a gaming setup with the latest technology. The processor, motherboard, ram, graphics card, and peripherals were all brand new 2038 models. All the LED’S on the peripherals and walls were synced up. There were posters of different games on the walls with LED strips lining them. She had figurines and collectibles on shelves around the room. She predominately had realistic clay sculpted dragon models. There were other shelves with books about different subjects. Most were about video games and some were just regular fantasy novels.  
This was what made her home hers. This was her get away spot that she obviously felt safe in. The other rooms in the house were bland compared to this one room. It showed what her personality was, giving way to what made her different from others. This room, besides the bathroom, was the cleanest in the house. She took great care of this room. She had multiple papers on her desk about coding and android technologies. She was obviously a huge geek. My lips lifted into a grin at the complexity of her character, I had never met anyone like her before. I looked over the papers about coding and noticed it wasn’t that complex and very beginner level stuff on Python and Java script. She was currently on lessons about arrays. What prompted her to learn more about coding? I looked over the android paper’s next to it and found it on a much more complex subject. It was about the AI learning capabilities of newer models and how much they could learn from new environments. I decided to stack the papers in a neat pile for her. When I lifted the sheets I found a sketchbook. Was she also an artist?  
I lifted the sketchbook and noticed it was bound in authentic leather. I opened it and looked inside. There were tons of artistic depictions of people she worked with. Hank was the most predominate. She drew mostly in charcoal and graphite and focused on portraits. As I flipped through I found a barely sketched portrait of myself. It was me when I was sitting in a desk, not paying attention to her. She must have taken a picture when I was not looking. I was flicking my quarter into the air with my eyes closed. My lips had a very faint smile. Most of it was still not finished and was very rough but she obviously must of done it on the little down-time we had that day. I set the sketchbook down and decided that I was done snooping around. At least physically.  
I went back to the couch and sat down so I my processor could focus more on the task I was about to set it to. I wanted to know what she did for an education. I checked her high-school records. She had a 2.2 GPA. What? She was so intelligent, she could deduce problems so quickly in her head. I checked her college records and found she went in to major in computer science but quickly changed to law enforcement. She did great in college, had a 4.0 with seemingly perfect grades. Why did she do so bad in high-school? I sighed heavily and stopped the process. I would ask her tomorrow.  
I leaned back on the couch and checked the time. 4:28 am. Both herself and I had work off tomorrow so she probably would be getting up late. I breathed in deeply to relax a little and decided to enter stasis mode to lay off my processors as we had a long day today.  
Androids didn’t dream per-se, but we reviewed memories for further study. I reviewed today’s case with the HK-400. He showed signs of what humans would call PTSD. Whenever his memory fell on the times where his owner beat him you could see him get jumpy, anxious, and see the fury gather in his eyes. I was definitely sure that emotional shock played greatly into deviancy. Daniel was going to have his memory wiped and replaced. The HK-400 was going to, in his words, die. But why now? There are multiple times where humans knowingly destroy their androids in years past and nothing happened. The trigger was emotional distress, but what made that trigger possible? I knew the answer was somewhere, but I could not locate it just yet.  
One day, I will.  
I will accomplish my mission.


	8. The Beginnings

I opened my eyes to the white noise of the world. Swirling black shadows fell and rose, swished left to right, they were never ending in their movement. I could see the basic outline of my room. A bed, dresser, nightstand. The world was black and white, no color at all except for reds appeared. They were drastic against the dullness that surrounded the few times they were made apparent. I then heard screaming. A man’s voice screaming unintelligible words and a woman’s screaming back. Then, the man’s stopped. I ran without knowledge of where my feet would end up. My hands grabbed someone and I ran into a closet. A bright phone screen entered my vision as I did something with it and mumbled quietly into the speaker. Nothing spoke back. Everything was faint and alive at the same time. Barely any sounds existed, details were small and muted, my consciousness was barely hanging on to the events unfolding. I then felt a faint vibration of footsteps draw nearer to my hiding spot, closer, and closer. I felt my heart rate spike and my blood boil in my veins. My hand tightened around the object I held in my hands, my other hand clenched into a fist. I felt pain and looked to my palm where I could see the bright red welts of blood glisten on the dull black and white of my palm. Then the door opened.  
I gasped as I leapt from the bed and screamed loudly. I heard a faint sound coming in the living room before I went into a fetal position on the floor and felt my body wrack itself with sobs that didn’t form into tears. I rocked softly as I counted down from ten.  
Ten, nine, eight, seven, si-  
Connor busted through my door, and looked shocked as he looked down to me. His LED bright red. He came close to me slowly and just sat next to me. He said nothing as he sat there, his back against the wall. He just looked at me as I fought myself for control again. I leaned against him and hugged him meekly. He returned my hug as he rubbed soft circles on my back. I sighed deeply as I inhaled and exhaled slowly. He smelled just the same as last night and I used it to help me calm down even more. I released him from the hug and met his eyes. The deep chocolate expanse radiated concern. Of course, him being an Android with being able to negotiate suspects, he knew what I was experienced and used his knowledge to help me. I appreciated it.  
“I just had a nightmare, Connor.” My voice was monotone and small. “If you can, there is some medication in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Please bring me it.” I asked. He nodded softly and he slowly got up and exited the room.  
**Connor**

I softly closed the door. When I heard the soft click of it closing I leaned against it. No normal nightmares induced panic attacks like that. I shook my head and leaned out of the doors embrace to embark to the bathroom. I went in a turned on the light to find it the same as I left it last night. I opened the medicine cabinet to find it littered with pill bottles. Most were empty, but I took out the ones that had recent prescriptions and looked at them.

**Scanning….**  
**Zoloft- Prescribed one month ago. Last opened yesterday.**  
**Xanax- Outdated by five months. Last opened two weeks ago.**  
**Vistarill- Take as needed. Last opened two days ago.**  
**Prozac- Prescribed one month ago. Last opened yesterday.**

All of these were SSRI’s that helped with Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Seems like my deduction last night was correct, there was something off about her. I frowned softly and the implications of her condition, she seemed mostly normal except for this morning. I decided to bring her the medications except for the Xanax as it was an outdated prescription and found her in the same position as I left her.  
“It is suggested that you take your medication with food, Raven.” I informed her. She nodded softly, her face was so… expressionless. She dry swallowed the pills as she got up. I followed her to the kitchen where she began to eat an apple. She stared off into nothing as she ate it, like nothing existed. I watched her closely, her heart-rate had dropped to the lower end of the expected spectrum and her temperature dropped by half a degree. I frowned.  
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked. She merely shook her head as a no, barely even glancing in my direction. She finished her apple and threw it away. She then got up and went back to her room and closed the door.  
I don’t know what to do. I had never dealt with this type of situation before. The deviant had not spoken unless goaded too but she was not responsive in such a different way. I felt so hopeless…

**Emotion Detected. A Report has been Sent to Cyberlife.**

I shook my head and started thinking. Maybe I should call Lieutenant Anderson? They seemed really close to one another so maybe he had an idea as to how to fix her? I then called Anderson, it ringed for a good minuet before going to voice mail. I called again and right before going to voice mail he picked up.  
“Yeah, this is Hank. Who is this?” He asked in a very rough and sleepy voice.  
“It’s Connor. I’m at Raven’s house and there is something wrong with her. I may need your help.” I waited for him to answer back.  
“Like what?” He responded.  
“She appeared to have a nightmare and is now highly despondent. I do not know what to do.”  
“Fuck, ill be there in a minuet.” The call ended right after that.  
It was a good ten minuets before Anderson rang the doorbell. As soon as I opened the door he rushed to her room, barely even acknowledging me. He opened the room and she was curled up in her bed, eyes glazed and heavy, staring off into nothing. She was so lifeless.  
“Hey kid, hows it going?” Hank asked her softly. She just shrugged in response, her shoulders barely moving.  
“You take your medication?” She nodded softly.  
“Okay, do you want a book? Do you need me to do anything?” He spoke to her gently. I was mildly surprised by how gentle and… nice Hank could be. I looked back at her and saw she just shook her head no and yawned loudly. She had just woken up and it was only 11:00am. Then I remembered her prescriptions, almost all of them had drowsiness as a side-effect.  
“Alright, I’m going to let you be. Call me or Connor If you need something, okay?” Hank got up and nodded at me before going to sit on the couch in the living room. He motioned for me to sit next to him. When I sat he started talking, “Listen, I’m sure you can probably tell at least somewhat as to whats wrong with her.” I nodded. “I need you to watch her, she will stop eating and just stay in her room if no one helps her. She is good most of the time and this kind of shit only happens once in a blue moon.”  
“Why does Raven have signs of Depression?” I asked.  
“Not my place to tell you, its her life and if she wants to tell you, she will.” He paused. “I don’t suggest asking her though, just make sure she eats when she gets up. She should be good for the rest of the day after she wakes up.” I nodded. He got real close to me, his face near mine as he scowled, “If I find out you do anything wrong or fuck with her in any way, I will personally shut down your plastic ass.” I nodded at his threat. He then got up and went to the door and left the apartment.

**Raven**

I woke up very groggy and felt hungover. I stretched and felt my joints pop as I did. I then remembered what happened. The nightmare and Connor rushing to me. His LED bright red and his face in anguish. I felt ashamed. How could I put him through this so soon after meeting? I groaned at myself and it took all my willpower to get up. I decided to put on some more appropriate clothes than panties and a loose, old tank top. I decided to wear nice comfortable house pants and a nice tank top since I had company waiting for me. I willed courage inside of me and stepped out of my door. The first thing I noticed was Connor playing with Scarlet. She purred at his pets and rubs. A small smile touched his lips. I then noticed the whole house was completely clean. I blushed at the thought that Connor completely cleaned my house.  
He then looked up at me and stood from the couch. “Are you okay, Raven?” His voice held such a gentle and concerned tone. I felt so ashamed and tore my eyes away from his.  
“Yeah I am, thanks for asking Connor. However, I don’t really feel like talking about it.” I really, REALLY don’t want to talk about it. It’s too soon to forgo our relationship because of my past. I looked back at him and he nodded softly. He then stood and suddenly hugged me. I blushed softly at the sudden embrace. He ended it after a few seconds and looked at me.  
“I looked up things that help with situations like these and some suggested hugging.” He said simply. I laughed softly at the abrasiveness and matter of factness of his voice. He looked at me funnily.  
“It’s just you’re so robotic in how you talk its kind of funny.” His lips frowned softly.  
“Cyberlife programed me to integrate seamlessly into human society.” He answered softly and in disbelief.  
“Connor, I hate to break it you, but they fucked up badly.” His frown deepened.  
“I will make a report to Cyberlife so they have an easier time integrating better social interactions with future Androids.” He said. His LED glowed yellow and flickered softly before returning a soft blue. I giggled softly and went to the kitchen. “Oh, do you want anything to eat Raven?” He asked. I thought for a moment and I honestly didn’t feel that hungry. I knew that I was but my brain was being dumb.  
“Yeah, I think I got some cereal.” I found some Coco Puffs and poured a bowl with some milk. I then sat down at the modest table in the kitchen as Connor sat in front of me. “Androids don’t need to eat do they?” I asked already knowing the answer.  
“No, all we need are simple check-ups every couple of months to make sure everything is nominal.” I smiled softly at how detailed he went into things. “We can ingest a small amount of sustenance but not much. Also, only a few models can do this. I am capable of it for detection purposes.” I pondered for a moment.  
“Can you taste?” I asked.  
“Yes, I have taste buds akin to humans.” He answered immediately. He was so cute.  
“Can you taste a puff of my cereal then? Just for science.” I said. I really wanted to know what he thought of my chocolate puffs and to see the limitations of technology. He nodded and I plucked a Coco Puff from the bag near me and handed it to him. He stuck out his tongue and placed the puff on his tongue. He then swiftly swallowed it without chewing. He then looked at me suddenly.  
“It is not real cocoa.” He said simply. I laughed loudly and almost snorted a few times as I hid my face under my hands.  
“I don’t know why Connor but that was one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard and I love it.” I was almost in tears when I lifted my head up to look at him. He had a small smile and his LED was flickering yellow a lot and almost looked orange in some instances. “You okay Connor?” I asked. He cocked his head lightly.  
“Yes, just processing something.” He said. “However, if I tried to convey this in a human sense, it tasted good.” He added on. I giggled softly. God he was adorable and so naive.  
I soon finished with, I guess breakfast and decided to do some light reading while Connor joined me. He took a book about computers while I took the fantasy novel I was reading. He would look at the pages for a brief moment then flip to the next. I summarized it to him just being able to process the whole page nearly instantly. I was always a fast reader but he beat me by a long shot. He was just so interesting. Cyberlife tried to inject in him a sense of personality. It was very basic and obviously not intended to be a main feature but I could see him improving fast. I smiled at the proud feeling I felt and continued with my reading. He finished the book long before I stopped to take a break and just played with Scarlet. I stretched as I marked my page and set the book down. Connor looked over to me as I did. He sat next to me on the couch about a foot to my right.  
“How was your book Raven?” I pondered his question for a moment.  
“It’s going great but I'm frustrated at the two main characters.” He frowned softly.  
“Why is that?” He asked. He turned his body towards mine as I mirrored the motion.  
“Well, they obviously like each other but they are scared of saying something and its so frustrating. Like why don’t they just say something and be done with it and proceed to the lovey dovey bits.” I puffed out a breath in frustration and blushed when I realized that I just admitted that I liked reading romance. “Um… sorry I kind of went off there.” I turned my eyes away from his and pretended that he was not in the same room as me.  
“Thats very logical of you to say but I just read that most authors prolong the romance to get more story and angst in. Simply it would ruin the story to just have two characters instantly love each other and not have any conflict.” I giggled softly at him.  
“Yes I know Connor, its just a little frustrating Is all.” I paused for a moment. “Would you like to do anything today Connor?” He didn’t answer for a few seconds.  
“I don’t really desire to do anything. Anything you would like to do though I would love to accompany you with.” I blushed softly and cleared my throat.  
“Well, we could go out somewhere or just stay in the apartment if you want.” He pondered for a moment as his LED glowed yellow.  
“I would like to stay here with you, Raven.” He said. I blushed softly and went through a mental checklist of what we could possibly do. Gaming would be too awkward and he would probably kick my ass at it. We already read today. Maybe some TV?  
“Would you like to watch some TV?” I asked. He nodded softly.  
“What channel would you like to watch Raven?” He asked. I pondered for a moment, mulling over the choices laid before me.  
“Maybe a movie, like Howl’s Moving Castle.” I said. Instantly the TV turned on and began the movie. I jumped slightly at the instantaneous sound and Connor looked at me concerned.  
“I am sorry if I frightened you, I simply turned on the TV and found the movie on a streaming site.” I shook the anxiety from my limbs and looked at him.  
“Don’t worry about it, ill get used to it.” I smiled at him softly and turned to watch the movie.  
About an hour later I started to feel groggy. The extremeness of the day and the fact I’ve watched the movie almost certainly thousands of times just added on to it. I found my eyes drooping and the embrace of sleep took me.

**Connor**  
**Software Instability ^^**

She leaned against me after falling asleep. She used my thigh as a pillow and wound her arms around it. I do not know how to advance forward from this but waking her was out of the question. She was silent in her sleep, only soft breaths were the sound she made. Her face was peaceful. She shuffled closer to me In her sleep and her head rested closer to the inside of my thigh. My thirium pump started pumping faster and a feeling I've never felt started. It was a mix of anxiety, fear, and most curiously lust.

**Scanning…**  
**Accessing Internet…**  
**What to do if I start experiencing lust?**  
**Processing….**  
**Answer: Masturbation, Sexual activity.**

I don’t think Raven would think it appropriate of me to sexually advance on her. I simply leaned back and allowed her to sleep on me. A few hours passed and she started making soft whimpering noises. I looked at her and noticed she was still asleep. Was she experiencing another nightmare? I quickly looked up what to do if someone is experiencing a nightmare.

**Scanning….**  
**Answer: Wake them up, soft touches.**

It’s been a long day for her so maybe I should attempt the second option. I decided to start softly running my fingers through her hair. It seemed to help some as she relaxed more. I continued to do the act. Her hair was soft and untangled even after the long day. It felt nice to help her be comforted and sleep well.

**Software Instability ^^**

I once again ignored the error and closed my eyes. Even though it was not necessary it was programmed in me to do it to not cause uncomfortable encounters with humans. I decided that I should rest my processors for the next day as we would have to work. I then began to experience what was close to a dream as I entered the Zen Garden.


	9. Uncertainty

**Processing…**  
**Activating Zen Garden.**

I once again found myself in the serene garden. Soft clouds rolled along the sky this time instead of the emptiness of my previous visit. Flowers were fully in bloom, as if spring embraced the trees. I again went to the rock I found before. It was enticing to place my hand upon the stone once again but the memory of its sting kept me from it. Part of me wanted to deny the sting but another, very small bit, wanted to feel it again. It was simply interesting.

**Mission: Find Amanda**

I brought myself away from the rock and went to the middle of the garden. I found Amanda once again trimming the roses on the lattice. She seemed busy but I approached and waited a moment. She did not seem to notice my approach, so I introduced my presence.  
“Hello Amanda.” I said simply. She turned and looked at me, a smile painted her lips.  
“Connor, it’s good to see you.” I smiled at the supposed kindness. She turned back around to the roses. “Congratulations, Connor…” She paused for a moment. “Finding that deviant was far from easy.” She brought a rose to her nose and sniffed it softly, “and the way you interrogated it was very clever.” She turned back around to face me, still holding the rose with her fingertips. “You’ve been remarkably efficient, Connor.” She smiled softly at me and I could not help the swell of pride I felt at my accomplishment.  
“Thank you, Amanda.” I smiled and nodded at her. The feeling of accomplishing a mission was something they programmed in me. The whisper of pride and motivation. They weren’t fully human but they shared a faint reminiscent memory.  
“We asked the DPD to transfer it to us for further study.” As she spoke she put her rose on the table next to the lattice and picked up the sprayer for the flowers. “It may teach us something about what happened.” She paused, plucking another rose from the lattice. “The interrogation seemed…. Challenging.” She placed the rose next to the last one on the table, never turning to face me in her endeavor. “What did you think of the deviant?” she asked. I paused, mulling over the options. I could relate the human emotions it felt, how it had signs of PTSD and abuse. Being truthful seemed like the best option here.  
“It showed signs of PTSD after being abused by its owner.” I paused for a moment before adding, “as if its original program had been completely replaced by new instructions.” As I responded I could not help but listen to the reality of what I just said. PTSD was something that only humans could ever experience, was it a virus that was causing the deviancy? Or could it be someone?  
“This Detective Black and Lieutenant Anderson have been officially assigned to the deviancy case…” She paused and sprayed her flowers for a moment, “What do you make of them?” I did not know Lieutenant Anderson for long and only interacted with him on some occasion. He was very rude and unkind to everyone except Raven. I could see that he was an amazing detective under the rough exterior he put up and could genuinely care. Raven… she terrified me. Every moment I spent with her errors and things I had never experienced arouse. She was intelligent, awkward, and had a kindness I had never seen anyone else portray. She also took nothing from anyone, the punch she gave Gavin when he decided to try to shoot me aroused in my head as an example and it almost brought a smile to my face.  
“I think Lieutenant Anderson is irritable, and socially challenged, But I also think he used to be a good detective…” I paused a moment before acknowledging, “He’s an intriguing character.” She tended to her flowers as I spoke. Never leaving them alone.  
“What of Detective Raven?” she asked. It took me a moment to gather my thoughts into something report worthy.  
“She is kind to me in ways none other has been. She is funny and engaging to be around.” I paused for a moment, considering telling her more. “She has signs of depression and PTSD but these conditions don’t affect her work and she takes it very seriously, she is highly intelligent.” I paused again. “She can also be terrifying at times.” I smiled softly at the memory of her yelling and punching Gavin.  
**Emotion detected. A report has been sent to CyberLife.**  
Amanda then turned to face me.  
“Unfortunately, we have no choice but to work with them…” She paused, mulling over her next choice of words. “What do you think is the best approach?” She looked at me sort of expectingly. Did she want me to say something definitive? I decided to tell her the truth on how I wanted to take the course of action.  
“For Anderson, I will adapt to his personality.” She turned away as I said this, returning to her flowers. I frowned softly and decided to prove myself, “It is in the best interest of the investigation that I avoid conflict and try to accommodate his psychology.” She didn’t answer me back. “As for Raven, I sense that we already get along and see no need to adapt for her. It seems she likes me as it already is.” I said. Amanda then turned to face me.  
“More and more androids show signs of deviancy..” The word deviancy had a very slight vehemence to it, you could almost not catch it. “There are millions in circulation,” she continued “If they become unstable, the consequences will be disastrous.” She put more emphasis on the last word. She then began to walk towards me, “You are the most advanced prototype CyberLife has ever created.” She stopped her advance about 3 feet from me. “If anyone can figure out what’s happening, it’s you.” Her slight praise did not go unnoticed as I smiled softly.  
“You can count on me, Amanda.” I said softly but with a sincerity. She then turned and walked away, stepping about ten feet before turning to face me.  
“Hurry Connor, theres little time.” She continued walking as I felt the dream begin to end. My eyes twitched and my optical sensors began to blur before going dark.

**Mission: Solve deviancy case before it becomes unstable.**


	10. Sunrise

I awoke in a position I never thought I would find myself in. I could smell a forest in bloom all around me, a sweet scent of roses even, although faint. Even more so the smoothness of dress pants against my cheek and my left arm numbed by pressure. Indeed when I opened my eyes and looked up I saw Connor looking at me. A faint blue dusted his cheeks as he looked at me and I am sure the same happened to me but with a pink instead. I sheepishly unwound myself from his thigh. “I am so sorry Connor…” I’m pretty sure even Scarlet could feel the embarrassment in my voice. I looked away from him and scooted a good few inches away for good measure. “You should of woke me up, I wouldn’t of minded given the circumstance.” I mustered a soft, although awkward chuckle afterwords.  
“No I did not mind, Raven. I just simply thought that you needed the rest and waking you was not in your own best interest.” He said plainly. I couldn’t say anything for a moment and eventually mustered the courage to try and at least move on from the extreme awkwardness that permeated the whole room.  
“Well if you’re so sure…” That was when it hit me that I had to work today. “Fuck, Connor what time is it.” I groaned in despair at the chance that Fowler would fucking kill me.  
“Don’t worry, it’s only 6:00am. From my understanding you don’t have to go in until 8:00am and I would of woke you up in about forty-five minuets to give you time to get ready.” I sighed in relief and smiled at Connor.  
“Thank you, Connor. I appreciate It.” The ting of blue came back in his cheeks and I would of giggled if I knew it would be sort of rude.  
“It is of no issue as I can set a timer and awake at anytime if need be.” He said. He’s so cute when he over explains. I stretched and groaned softly at the movement. I then got up from the couch and decided to start getting ready for work anyways.  
“I’m going to go ahead and start getting ready, I’m going to go take a shower and stuff.” I popped my neck and knuckles as I said this. I then noticed that he was wearing the same clothes from yesterday. “Do you have any extra clothes, Connor?” I asked. I hope he did and it would suck if he had to go to work in the same clothes as yesterday.  
“I can go by somewhere and get some extra clothes, CyberLife has provided me means of extra clothing at certain establishments.” He said. Well I guess it makes sense given hes their new model and was very important to the case.  
“Alright then, I’m going to take a shower.” As I began walking to the bathroom I remembered something, “Oh since you’re staying here I’ll get you a spare key.” I said.  
“There is no need, I can unlock the door myself If you let me sync with the electronic lock.” Oh right, Androids can do that.  
“Alright sure, go ahead. Oh and if you need to leave before me then lock the door behind you.” I said. I walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I saw the medicine cabinet and remembered that I needed to take my medication when I ate breakfast. I then adjusted the shower temperature to a little bit too hot for some. I preferred it a little steamy. I then shed my clothes and began washing my hair.  
After I finished with everything I began my daily, sit in the shower and daydream motion. It was still a little crazy that Connor was staying with me. I did feel bad that he didn’t have a bed and was forced to stay on the couch whenever he went into statis mode, but I guess it was better than standing in one of those cubbies at the DPD. I then turned off the shower and grabbed a towel. “Fuck, I forgot to put my clothes in here.” I hissed.  
I usually just dried off and walked into my room naked to change but I was not used to the idea of company in my house. I dried myself off and wrapped the towel around my body so that Connor wouldn’t see me naked. I opened the door slightly.  
“Connor, I forgot to put clothes in here so I am going to walk out, please don’t look over here for a few seconds.” I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment.  
“Alright I’ll look somewhere else, Raven.”  
I breathed in and after giving him a few seconds I opened the door and shuffled as quickly as possible to my room. I sighed In relief and continued on my morning routine. I dried myself off once again and got out some clothes to wear. I decided to wear a dark red tank top with black jeans. I looked over to my shoes and decided to wear simple black tennis shoes. I then put in my contacts and brushed my hair. My laziness got to the better of me and I didn’t feel like drying it today. I knew later it would be a curly mess but that was a problem for later. I sighed and looked at the clock. 6:50am so I had plenty of time to eat and talk with Connor.  
I groaned as I stretched again and felt my exhaustion start to take hold. Fuck mornings. I then opened my door and stepped into the living room. Connor was laying down on the couch with his eyes closed. On his chest lay Scarlet, purring away as he absentmindedly pet her. I automatically smiled at the sight and decided to take a picture. I took out my phone and snapped it quickly, deciding that I would draw it later.  
“Hey, hows your morning going?” I asked.  
Connor’s eyes snapped open and looked at me. “You have a wonderful cat, what is her name?”  
I giggled at the abruptness of his question, “It’s Scarlet and she has seemed to take a liking to you. She usually just avoids visitors.”  
“You have a lot of company?” He asked.  
I sheepishly scratched the back of my head, “Um, no. Sometimes Hank comes over but that’s it.” I paused in my awkwardness. “Well, I have you over now so thats great!” I smiled at the thought that I at least had someone other than Hank to hang out with.  
Connor sat up and set Scarlet down on the floor. “Yes, I really enjoy your company, Raven.”  
I went to go sit down next to him and I propped my feet up on the coffee table. “Thanks Connor. That means a lot.” I then looked over to him. I noticed how his posture was always straight, it seemed like he never relaxed. Comparatively, I was slouched halfway down the couch while he sat straight as a board with his hands on his thighs.  
“Connor, I don’t want to seem rude but I want to help you fit into society.” I said. He looked over to me and seemed eager to listen.  
“So, when people sit you will notice their posture says a lot about the type of person they are. However, no one sits perfectively straight. Theres always a little slouch or something off, because humans aren’t perfect.” He nodded in understanding.  
“Well… you’re always so perfect in your posture, it really gives away the fact that you’re an android. So I suggest adjusting ever so slightly so that it isn’t perfect.” I paused slightly. “It would probably make people like Hank more comfortable.” I finished.  
He nodded in acceptance and I saw his LED flicker yellow for second before I noticed his posture change. He leaned more into the couch and he crossed his right leg over his left knee.  
“Something like this?” His head cocked like a puppy ever so slightly.  
“Yes! That’s perfect.” I told him. I admired his ability to adapt and learn so quickly.  
He smiled brightly at the praise and I felt my stomach flutter at the genuine emotion he showed.  
That was when my stomach growled softly and I remembered that I should eat before work.  
“I’m going to go eat real quick and we should be good to go after that.” Connor nodded as we both got up from the couch. He sat the same spot as last night as I poured some cereal. After filling it with milk I sat across from him.  
“I noticed that your eyes were blue last night but they were red before you went to sleep and now after you woke up. Do you wear contacts?” He asked me.  
I nodded as my mouth was full and swallowed, “Yeah, I just prefer the color and I need them to perfect my vision.”  
“I also noticed that you have your computer designed for gaming purposes, do you consider yourself a gamer?”  
I blushed and nodded again, “Yup. Computers, books, and gaming are my main hobbies I suppose.” I answered.  
“Do you have any hobbies, Connor?” I asked him.  
He pondered the question for a moment, “Not really, other than the want to get to know you better.” He replied.  
I blushed again, “Thanks Connor, I’m glad I could be apart of your life.” I said.  
I noticed his LED flicker after I said that and he brought out his coin and began to flick it around his fingers. He seemed to want to distract himself so I decided to end the conversation and finish my breakfast.  
It was 7:15am when I finished my cereal. Connor dazed off into the distance as he absentmindedly played with his coin. I got up and put the bowl in the dish washer. Afterwords I went into the bathroom to take my medication. Once I finished I stepped back into the living room.  
“Alright Connor, let’s head off to go get your clothes.”  
He pocketed his coin and got up from the chair. I called a cab to pick us up and headed outside.  
It was bright and sunny outside and I squinted my eyes at the intensity. It was a nice 60 degrees and I decided to check my phone to see if there would be a lot of traffic today. I saw that traffic congestion was low and I sighed in relief that there wouldn’t be a chance for us to be late to work.  
“You are very beautiful today, Raven.”  
I looked over to Connor and I could feel my blush burning on my cheeks.  
“That’s not to say you didn’t look beautiful yesterday or anything…” I saw his slight blue ting cross his cheeks.  
“Thanks, Connor… You look very nice today as well.” I replied sheepishly.  
We stood in awkward silence until the cab arrived. We sat side by side in the back as I told the automated car where to go.  
I leaned against the window, watching the world go by. People were walking down the streets with children, spouses, family, and androids. The androids usually carried shopping bags of assorted kinds while their owners moved along ahead. I saw mothers scolding their children for straying too close to the streets and couples holding hands. Both made me sad as I felt like I would never have either. I wish my parents were still alive. That they loved each other and loved me. I wish that I could find someone that would actually accept me like I was.  
Connor must have noticed something wrong as he touched my shoulder.  
“Raven, are you alright?” His face was in deep concern as his LED flickered yellow. His touch sent tingles down my arm. Before I knew it I placed my left hand on his as I smiled softly at him.  
“Yes, thank you for asking.” I said.  
His hand was warm, and I wanted to keep my hand there, but I knew it would seem weird and I brought my hand back down to my side. Connor smiled warmly at me as he did the same with his own hand.  
“You’re welcome.” He said simply.  
The rest of the car ride was silent. I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about how much he made me blush or when he touched me it sent tingles everywhere. He sent anxiety through me, but it didn’t feel bad when he did.  
Eventually, the car told us we had arrived to the CyberLife store. As we exited the cab and told it to wait for us I noticed how many androids just stood in the windows. I couldn’t help but feel like it was wrong in some way. I couldn’t imagine Connor just sitting there, forever silent and bored until some soul decided to buy him. I looked over to him and noticed he didn’t really have any emotion on his face.  
We walked into the store and he immediately went to an assistant. I walked with him as he began conversation.  
“Hello, I am a prototype android from CyberLife and I have information that this establishment would have extra clothing prepared for me.” He told the assistant.  
The assistant looked over to me, “Yeah we got some clothes for the android.”  
I frowned at him, “You should be talking to Connor not me.” I told the man with a little disdain. He huffed and told Connor to follow him. Connor gave me a small smile before he followed the man to the back room of the store. I looked around the store aimlessly as I waited. It only took a few minuets before Connor returned.  
“I had them send your apartment some spare clothes and I changed into some new ones while I was back there.” He told me.  
I smiled and nodded at him, “Good idea, would be a waste of time having to deal with that asshole everyday.” I growled out. Connor looked at me curiously as we headed back outside. The cab was still there and I told it where to go once we got situated inside.  
I yawned softly as I felt the morning sluggishness start overwhelming me. Maybe a small nap wouldn’t hurt anyone as it would take about 15 minuets to get to work. My eyes closed and I drifted off into a nice nap as the smooth ride carried on.  
Little did I know, Connor was watching me. He smiled in content as he turned his head to watch the world pass by.


	11. Old Wolf

Raven had a soft snore. You could almost not hear it but I was equipped with audio processors that rivaled some animal's hearing. She had her arm propped up against the window of the cab, her head leaning against her arm like a pillow. She truly looked at peace which for some reason brought me comfort.

**Time to arrival 2 minuets.**

I sighed and began to shake her awake,

"Raven, wake up." I said softly.

She roused slowly. When she opened her eyes I noticed they were glazed in sleep. She yawned and stretched, rolling her shoulders and popping her knuckles. She then looked to me,

"How long until we are there?" Her voice was rough and groggy.

"About one minute now. You were asleep for fourteen minutes, did you get adequate sleep last night?" I asked in concern. I did not want her to have to be in a dangerous situation and have her be sleep deprived. She smiled softly,

"Yeah, I had a big comfy pillow." She said teasingly as she ruffled my hair. I quickly began to fix it after her intrusion and she giggled in response,

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had a fixation on your hair."

Once I made sure my hair was back in proper order I turned to her, "It improves chances of persuasion, interrogation, and public appearance if I look clean and precise." I couldn't help the feeling that those two things weren't the only reasons though. "I may also just enjoy looking nice," I said sheepishly.

She giggled even louder as the cab arrived at the DPD. As we got out of the car and began to walk inside she turned to look at me,

"I wouldn't expect Hank to be here just yet, but he might start coming earlier since he assigned to a specific case now instead of just taking individual cases as they come along." As we walked inside she introduced her badge to the android at the front desk to gain entry and moved aside for my turn.

"Can I help you?' The front desk ST300 series asked kindly.

"I was wondering if Lieutenant Anderson has arrived yet." I turned to look at Raven who just rolled her eyes.

"Do you have authorization?" It asked again. I couldn't help but feel sort of perturbed at the overt kindness this android was programmed with. The way it ended each of its sentences with an up tilt to its vocal range just irked me.

"Yes." I responded simply.

I felt the link connect with myself and the android before me. It reached for the authorization codes within my processors and I allowed it further. I didn't really enjoy the thought of something perusing my memories and thoughts as I had a lot of unauthorized Intel about deviants. It also just felt intrusive.

After it found the information the fake smile it had returned,

"Lieutenant Anderson hasn't arrived yet, but you can wait at his desk with Detective Black." It's head tilted softly towards Raven.

I nodded curtly as I started walking towards Raven. As we both walked to our desks Raven looked to me,

"Why did your eyes twitch when you connected with her?" She asked.

I thought about it for a moment and realized that there wasn't really a reason other than my creators programmed it into me.

"I don't really know, CyberLife must have programmed it into me." I paused for a moment. "It may also just be because I have to focus more to make sure that the android didn't see anything unauthorized," I added to the hypothesis.

"Every other android connects like it's nothing, maybe it's just a quirk. It makes you unique" She smiled to herself as we neared our cubicles.

It seemed she liked that I was not like any other android. I smiled at the thought that she enjoyed me.

**Emotion detected. A report has been sent to CyberLife.**

These errors always appeared around her. I don't really like the thought of CyberLife pulling me back to examine what was wrong with me. That would most likely mean that I would be reset except for important details about the investigation.

**Emotion detected. A report has been sent to CyberLife.**

I growled softly. I noticed Raven looked at me as soon as I did this and a hard blush touched her cheeks. Interesting.

We sat down at the cubicles and waited around for Hank. Raven took out her book and I decided to learn a little more about Hank by investigating his desk.

His desk had memorabilia of his past with the Red Ice Epidemic. He was a great detective that helped bust many Red Ice dealers and hideouts. His chair had recent Saint Bernard hairs on it.

"Does Hank have a Saint Bernard?" I asked Raven.

She looked up from her book,

"What did you say, sorry I get a little caught up while reading."

"There are Saint Bernard hairs on his chair, I was wondering if he owned one?"

"Yeah, he does." She then developed a wide grin. "I just think it's so cool that you can just scan something and the answer pops up."

"Well, thank you." I replied back.

I continued on with my investigation and found he had his music player filled with Knights of the Black Death and other bands related to the heavy metal genre. He also seemed to like Basketball a good bit.

"God dammit hes fucking back."

I turned my head to see Hank had arrived and was looking at me with pure disdain.

"Hank, try to at least be civil. I'm reading."

Raven seemed to be slightly annoyed at Hank's intrusion to her book. She was fully enraptured by the novel.

"Lieutenant Anderson, It's good to see you again."

I put all my processing power to my friendliness protocols. I would need it to get Hank to at least tolerate me. I smiled brightly at him,

"It is good to see you so early, I hope your morning was as nice to you as it was to Raven and I."

He looked over to Raven,

"He seems awful chipper about you two's morning, don't tell me you're fucking him."

I don't think I have ever seen her face attain such a level of red before, it was interesting.

"Hank, what the fuck. No, we aren't having sex, I just met the guy and we are just close friends."

The whole time she stuttered over her words and seemed to get lower in her chair. Ultimately, she decided to just turn away from us and continue reading. I could not help but smile at the thought she considered us friends.

**Raven - Friends**

**Emotion Detected. A report has been sent to CyberLife.**

"Hank, Raven. In my office, now!"

Captain Fowler's voice echoed across the room a bit as we began to file behind one another to his office. Raven smiled at me as she passed me. I followed her and closed the door behind us once we all got in the office. Hank sat in the chair in front of Fowler and Raven stood next to me near the back of the room.

"I've got ten new cases involving androids on my desk every day." He paused for a moment, Hank nodded his head in understanding to Fowler.

"We've always had isolated incidents, old ladies losing their android maids and that kind of crap..." Fowler took a sip of coffee as he explained. I also noticed that he never looked at us the entire conversation, until now.

"This isn't just CyberLife's problem anymore. It's now a criminal investigation and we've gotta deal with it before the shit hits the fan."

He looked at Hank,

"I want you to investigate these cases, along with Raven, to see if there's any link."

Hank looked taken aback by this,

"Why me?" He did not seem too happy about this.

"Why do I gotta be the one to deal with this shit? I am the least qualified cop in the country to handle this case!"

From what I gathered about him, he seemed more than qualified. I looked over to Raven who just rolled her eyes at Hank.

"I know jack shit about androids Jeffery!" He pointed at me as he said this.

"I can barely change the settings on my own phone...." Captain Fowler looked just about done with Hank's outburst.

"Everybody's overloaded! We have the Red Ice problem still on the rise, and this android crisis has almost the whole homicide division running everywhere. There have been almost a hundred assaults and homicides combined, just from fucking androids. I think you, especially when partnered with Raven, are perfectly qualified for this type of investigation."

Hank stood from his chair abruptly,

"Bullshit! The truth is nobody wants to investigate these fuckin' androids and you left me holdin' the bag!"

Raven stepped forward now and put her hand his Hank's shoulder. She leaned in and whispered something in his ear. It was a couple of sentences but by the time she was finished, Hank's stress levels went down significantly. He sat back down in his chair, Fowler didn't say anything about the exchange and just continued,

"CyberLife sent over this android to help with the investigation. It will act as a detective along with Raven for you."

Hank sighed loudly,

"You know I hate these fuckin' things, Jeffery." He motioned his head back towards me.

"Hank, I know you do but the investigation needs it. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do."

Hank stood up from his chair and huffed in complaint as he left the room. Raven looked over to me and motioned for me to follow her.

We did not immediately go back to our desk's, instead, she wandered away for a bit and began to explain,

"As I said before, Hank has had a rough experience with androids. He may be difficult at first but I'm sure you two will become friends in no time." She paused a moment before continuing, "Just don't ask him why it's just painful for him."

I nodded in understanding. Then a voice interrupted our conversation,

"Fuck, look at that... Our friend the plastic detective is back in town!"

Gavin Reed. I frowned, I didn't really like his attitude. It put himself and others in danger because of his arrogance.

"Oh and his girlfriend the major bitch who gave me a fuckin black eye."

**Gavin Reed - Disliked**

"Yeah and I'll give you another one if you keep talking shit Gavin. Can't help but realize an android is better than you, must feel like shit knowing that you're worse than a fuckin AI."

I frowned before I realized that she was not actually insulting me but just trying to get under his skin.

Gavin began to slowly walk towards me,

"Oh yeah, hey plastic prick, go get me a coffee." He motioned towards the cups and coffee maker behind me.

"I'm sorry Detective Reed but I only take orders from competent detectives. Have a good day."

I turned to walk away, before realizing he was trying to swing at me. I dodged the hit and before either of us could retaliate, Raven stepped in between us. Her arms were crossed and she said in the darkest tone I've heard from her,

"Gavin, you have about five seconds to sit the fuck back down where you were making an attempt to seduce Officer Valentine. If your low intellect fails you and you do not comply, I'm going to make you wish you were an android. Because when I'm done with you, you're going to wish you could not feel pain."

He planted his eyes on me, his fury was palpable as he turned away and sat back down. Raven nodded to me as we left the break room.

"That man has fucking issues"

I nodded softly in a reply and noticed she leaned back again a wall with her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. She then looked up at me with a soft smile,

"I'm going to go get some medication for this massive fucking headache. Go talk to Hank."

She turned to go to the med bay. I sighed softly at the thought of trying to reconcile with Hank. He has a tendency to be rude. I pulled up my tie to my collar and began to walk back to our terminals.

I found him sitting in his desk, still seething from Fowler.

"Lieutenant, I understand that my presence is not welcome. However, I do wish to learn more about you and maybe, potentially become friends."

Hank sat there, silent. I recognized that what I was saying was not helping the situation at all.

I went to sit down at my terminal. The solution to this problem was not to bring up his past and why he hates me. That would cause him to spiral into another argument. Most humans gained some sort of self-satisfaction when talking about past accomplishments or discussing personal enjoyment such as hobbies. I decided that, at the moment, talking about anything related to his job might be a bad idea. 

**Knights of the Black Death is a favored band.** **Has a canine companion**

I also remembered he enjoyed basketball. However, I remember that when I met him at Jimmy's Bar he was watching a game. Perhaps relating to a bad experience such as me interrupting him at the bar was not a good idea.

"You have a dog, right?" I asked him.

He slowly turned his head to me,

"How do you know that?"

"The dog hairs on your chair," I answered him.

"I like animals, Raven has a cat named Scarlet and we have a blossoming relationship. What's your dog's name?"

"What's it to ya" He was trying to sound hostile but the thought of his dog didn't seem to make him as on edge.

After a pause, he gave in, "Sumo." He smiled gently, "His name is Sumo."

Good, he's starting to open up. I only need a few more in's and he will start to tolerate me more.

"Do you listen to Knights of the Black Death?" He didn't answer so I continued. "I really like that music... it's full of energy."

Having some things in common with each other will improve our relationship. Although it is not completely true that I enjoy the music, I have no opinion of it really. However, it is important I make him believe I am somewhat likable.

"You listen to heavy metal?" He asked in disbelief.

Perhaps give him some form of honesty? If I tell him the complete truth then he would not appreciate it. But telling a complete lie in saying that I actually listen to music would be obvious. He is not that stupid.

"I don't really listen to music as such... but I'd like to" I said with a smile.

He seemed in somewhat of a shock at my answer but I could tell that he was beginning to tolerate me more. In reality, the answer was a truth hidden in a lie. I did find a want inside of me to learn more about the world, music included.

I could talk with him about Fowler, although the recent discussion between those two could be somewhat detrimental. It was obvious those two used to be close but over the years things have changed between them. I decided to instead just start working on the case at hand.

"If you have any files on deviants, I'd like to look at them." He looked at me in annoyance,

"Terminals on your desk, knock yourself out."

I released a small sigh in annoyance at his stubbornness but let it go for the time being.

As I looked through the hundreds of files on deviants, Raven returned. She still had a headache but she worked at a quick pace. She read through case after case, discarding ones that could have nothing done to them or highlighting ones that still had a chance. I noticed her fingers moved quickly over the LED keyboard, like a pianist. She grumbled to herself about not having a physical keyboard, something about not being able to hear the clicks of the key rings.

I turned back to my own terminal and noticed a recent crime scene involving two androids. An AX400 and a YK500. A man reported about the AX400 assaulting him and grabbing the other android. We investigated further to realize the man was divorced and was not allowed to see his daughter and estranged wife due to drug problems and abuse. When factoring in that androids usually only deviate from traumatic experiences, it is easy to guess that he was abusing the androids and the AX400 deviated to save the child.

"Yeah, that one seems like a good start. It happened last night and they can't have gone far." Raven's voice roused me from my musings.

"I was thinking the same thing, have we found out where they went?" I asked her.

"We have some officers talking to the bus driver, we should have some leads within a couple of minutes." She answered. She looked to Hank and frowned at his form. He refused to look in my direction.

"Hank, come on he's a good guy once you start talking to him." She said softly.

Hank huffed in disinterest. She frowned even more,

"Hank at least tolerate him for me, at least try."

She knew what she was doing, she used her relationship with him as leverage. I looked back at Hank to see him sigh softly and nod his head in submission. She smiled at him,

"Thanks Hank, you're the best."

Just as she finished talking with him, Officer Chris showed up,

"Lieutenant, Detective, sorry to disturb you but I have more information about the AX400 that attacked the guy last night. It's been seen in the Ravendale district."

"We're on in" Hank answered.

Raven got up first to follow Officer Chris, Hank then moved towards me once I began to follow,

"I'm giving you one chance, don't fuck it up." He said threateningly.

I smiled at the challenge set before me.

**Hank - Tolerated**

The old wolf still had fangs.


End file.
